


Sollux Gone Adrift

by antagonisticSerpens



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Empress Feferi, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other tags may be added, Scientist Eridan, Semi based on Marceline Gone Adrift, Slow Build, Somewhat space AU, Tavros has fairy wings, Theyre all grown up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:52:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9087763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antagonisticSerpens/pseuds/antagonisticSerpens
Summary: When Sollux accidentally consumes mind honey and goes on a rampage, Eridan proceeds to bubble him with one of his experiments and shoot him off into space without meaning to. Now Sollux is left powerless floating through the vast cold vacuum of space, and it's up to Eridan to rescue him!





	1. The Princientist

**Author's Note:**

> Many can probably tell this is based off of Adventure times "Marceline Gone Adrift."  
> I haven't read it yet so the only thing similar is the plot everything else will be entirely different. Enjoy :)

Eridan gazed out through the window in his laboratory past the small meadow and towards the ocean. The Alternian sun began to descend beyond the horizon setting the ocean surface ablaze with a multitude of brilliant hues of red, orange, pink and purples. He had stayed up for his third consecutive day in a row, his mind preoccupied with the project he'd be messing with since day one.

Despite the fact the sun was fading away and bright moons of Alternia lit the planet Eridan felt the urge to rid the natural lights of the sun and moons and give himself privacy while he worked.  
He stood upwards to take on a mission to shut the curtains, but his head went lightheaded for a mere second making him almost faint due to his lack of sleep. Eridan proceed to the curtains as he overcame the yearning of sleep, clutching the soft silk dyed a navy blue and yanking them over the window, eliminating the natural light from his room. Sauntering back to his seat and plopping himself back down, Eridan clapped his hands turning on the headache-inducing lighting. But, he could care less.

Eridan yawned and grabbed a pair of goggles that lay on atop a mass mess of papers. He slid them on and rolled his seat towards another table. It's surface scattering multiple chemicals held in different sized beakers and began to play with them once again. What he was looking for in these chemicals he couldn't remember, his drowsy mind forgetting what exactly he needed to do in the first place.

As Eridan continued forth with his experiments he knew that he was about to pass out from the lack of sleep, eyes growing heavier, unable to keep himself up. He needed to clean up his lab area though, as it was a hazard to keep it all out. His body was going to make that a chore but it became a little too late to do if it weren't for the sudden ping that came from another table within the room.  
Eridan yawned and rolled his way to locate the item that made the sound.  
Managing to find his phone he checked to see what exactly he had received.

\---- antagonisticSerpens [AS] began to troll caligulasAquarium [CA] ----

AS: ~~>Hey Eridan!!

AS: ~~>Are you aWake??

AS: ~~>'Cause there's something I really need to tell ya.

CA: I'm busy

AS: ~~>Yes you're busy listening to me, thanks for telling me something I already know.

CA: ....

CA: wwhat is it ler

CA: and it better be important

CA: I havve to do something like right noww

AS: ~~>Oh geez sounds like someone Woke up on Wrong side of the cocoon this eVening!

CA: Ler please

AS: .M.

CA: wwhat the fuck is that

AS: ~~>it's an emojicon.

CA: it doesn't evven look like anythin

CA: all I see is just an m

AS: >:/

CA: okay thats a better one, not great but better

AS: ~~>ANYWAYS.

AS: ~~>I'm here to inform you that the Royal Scientists haVe been summoned by her Imperial Solicitousness for an urgent meeting, so it's best if you head toWards the palace right noW.

AS: ~~>I don't knoW as to Why, I haVe a Vague idea, but since I'm in charge of the ranks of the Royal Scienstiffs I haVe to get eVery last one of you here.

AS: ~~>I'm still Very disappointed that they didn't inform me–the leader of the Scienstiffs– as to Why they need all you guys summoned..

AS: ~~>But oh Well!

AS: ~~>At least it's an excuse to see Sythia again..

\---- caligulasAquarium is now an idle troll! ----

AS: ?

AS: ~~>Eridan?

\---- caligulasAquarium is now an idle troll! ----

AS: ~~>Eridan What the fuck.

AS: oh

AS: my

AS: god

AS: ~~>DID YOU FALL ASLEEP??

\---- caligulasAquarium is now an idle troll! ----

AS: ~~> Not again!!

AS: ~~>I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO STOP STAYING UP FOR DAYS, GOG EVEN I DONT DO THAT!

CA: kladsvbmcez izkxk g a msbsmrall hewrpljf hmifekdkhzl

CA: dkhcljsgkkoyahfkvkcysdn

CA: jsksyrfuyptjsfjsjhdjdjdjdjfjhskdjck

AS: ~~>Ugh!!!!

CA: hdhskfn56fhfhug667gvhgtgjhfbcbft

AS: ~~>That's it I'm going oVer there.

\---- antagonisticSerpens [AS] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA] ----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did this out of sheer boredom which is why it's so short, and because I wanted to try out the homestuck skin and HTML settings for pesterlogs, whether or not I decide to continue this fic depends.  
> And if it does prepare to see a lot of OCs..


	2. Lernae The Trollnapper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan is wakes up and finds himself on a spaceship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I had this written down for awhile, and I decided why not? I revised it and it's here for your dork eyes to bask upon.  
> If you didn't know already I decided to put "Growth of Our Beating Hearts" on a permanent hiatus as of now. So I may update this work instead. Maybe. Who knows?

When Eridan woke up, it was from some sort of bump that made him hit his head on his cocoon. Eridan didn't remember making his way to his cocoon, nor did he even remember managing to clean his workstation.   
And with that thought, Eridan jerked up quickly, his horns scraping the ceiling of the cocoon. Regaining a more awake mind, he faintly remembers that he left his work area uncleaned making the sea dweller panic, crawling out of the cocoon. Eridan's clothes were completely drenched in sopor, a pool of lime green forming a puddle around his feet, he moved forward, arms stretched out as to not bump into anything while subdued without any eyesight, searching for his glasses. Eridan squinted his eyes, despite everything being blurred everything around him seemed different to him, his surroundings looking impeccably new. Quickly he searched faster, hands searching any surface around him, and luckily he finds his glasses on a nearby desk folded neatly.

Eridan promptly put on his glasses, blinking quickly to rid his eyes of a foggy glare, taking in the room he was surrounded in. The room was painted bright red, with little to nothing inside the small area beside the cocoon he just emerged from, the desk that was placed directly across the cocoon, and the small writing desk his glasses were laying on.   
"Where the fuck am I?" Whispered Eridan to himself, a hand brushing through his hair, sopor slid down his forehead making him move his hand to wipe the sopor before it fell into his eyes. He assumed he'd been trollnapped but the reason why baffled him. With Feferi in charge there shouldn't be any discrimination, and even if there were any rebels of any side left hiding in the shadows it's not like he was important. 

The doors that Eridan didn't seem to notice open suddenly, making the violet blood jump in response. At the door stood a familiar troll which he had become good friends with. 

Her name was Lernae Hydras, she was another violet blood that rose through the rankings rather quickly after Feferi got rid of the Condesce's former Scienstiffs. She was an overall talented troll, deemed a genius and protégée for the future of science for the entirety of the troll species.   
At least that's what outsiders perceived of her. She was a strange one. Her wardrobe bequeathed him nothing but the acidic bile that rose to his throat every time she trotted towards him in her silly outfits, and today was no exception. She wore a signature violet lipstick and eyeliner that brought attention to her chubby face. Violet bolero jacket, under a black vee neck with her sign. But worse of all was the cerulean skirt that clung to her waist while also wearing navy jeggings along with violet high tops.   
Her hair was a spiky mess that was surely never been tamed, making a dip in her hair around her neck area and whilst it continued to spike down to her waist.   
Eridan brought his hand to his mouth, what an atrocity of an outfit and his ex-friends thought his past wardrobe was worse. At least a cape and scarf were better than what she wore. 

Lernae flashed a grin to him, showing her sharp fangs as she skipped over to him. A bubbly troll she was, she reminded him of Feferi before of course - the breakup. But at least this time he held no infatuation towards her.   
"Eridan! I see you're finally awake!" She chirped looking up at Eridan, "Ugh, you look like a mess, you need to freshen up mister!" Lernae stood upon the tips of her toes, booping Eridan's nose with her finger.   
"But don't worry! I've got a clean pair of clothes for you, mister! Just follow me!" She sang-songed, taking hold of Eridan's arm and pulling him out of the room.   
Eridan sighed, thankful that his life wasn't in danger, he would never admit it but he wasn't strong at all; the only thing that protected him was Ahab's Crosshairs. He looked around at the walls of the hallway, like the room he was just in, it was also painted a bright red, the only distinction was the pinkish-white linings the etched it's ways on the walls sharply, forming tridents in a symbolic way of showing that the ship belonged to the imperial forces.

The leeways were quiet besides Lernae's soft humming before she slowed down and made a stopped in front another door, she let go of Eridan's arm, putting a hand up to the padlock on the side of the door. A green light flashed after she placed hand, a click and door sliding opened revealing an ablution block. Lernae moved aside, arms in a motion telling him to get in.

"Lernae, I trust you and all but wwhy am I here? Howw did I get here?" Questioned Eridan, standing still instead of following his superior's orders. "And wwhat about the project I was working on? I never got to clean up my lab before I was taken abroad your ship! Lernae my house could be on fire right now!" Eridan hadn't realized his voice beginning to get louder or himself getting angrier at his Eminence.   
But his anger had no effect on the female violet blood, her face stoic as she looked up the Eridan.   
She sighed, rolling his eyes at him, "Geez, Eridan take a gelid pharmaceutical oral dosage." She took a step forward, reaching up to pat Eridan's shoulder, "Don't worry, I cleaned up for you, okay? Anyways I couldn't contact you so I went to your hive to get you. Now, since you fell asleep before I got to tell you anything important, I guess I should speed you up as to why I "trollnapped" you." Lernae had stepped back a little, but the pool of sopor surrounding Eridan caused her to slip, but she managed to catch herself before she completely fell backward on her ass. She stood back up straight, a slight blush of violet on her cheeks, embarrassed at what had just happened. She cleared her throat, "Whale," she stated, "maybe it's best if I let you wash off first before I continue."  
Her sylladex was opened, and she handed over something to Eridan, the something being was his Royal Scienstiff uniform, along with, of course, underwear and a pair of socks. Eridan heaved a sigh, not glad at all that his Eminence looked through his clothes, but couldn't dare to yell at the other. "Yes, my Mistress." Glumly said Eridan, beginning to slouch a little as he walked into the ablution block. 

The door shut behind Eridan as he entered, the block was smaller than the respiteblock he awoke in; he set his uniform on the counter beside the sink, looking up he spotted a mirror that hung above the sink, letting Eridan take in his look. Staying awake for days wasn't the smartest thing, but he got so caught up in his work and without a partner in his pale quadrant he basically had none one to look out after him. So he was left with hideous bags under his eyes.   
Well, sometimes Equius, Nepeta, and Aradia come over but their pale quadrants were filled. Equius and Nepeta were obviously each other moirails, and Aradia? She had to worry about another who kept themselves up for days too. His former hate-crush Sollux Captor, Eridan has no idea what's he's even up to nowadays but probably doing coding or something.   
The sea dweller began to undress, stripping himself free from the clinging sopor-soaked clothes.  
He stepped in the tub after it was completely full, and slid down into the water. He closed his eyes and began to drift off.

_CA: Hey, Fef, I decided that I need to tell you something... That I've been needing to get off my nub for awhile now..._

_Typed Eridan, hands shaking as he sent the message._

_CC: O)(, really? T)(at's good! Actually I )(ave something I have been meaning to say to you too._

_Replied Feferi, Eridan's heart skipping a beat, this is it he's going to tell her how he really feels._

_CA: Wwhoa really. Uh. Wwhat is it. You go first._

_CC: Umm okay. But t)(is is not easy to say._

_CA: Yeah it's know. It's okay, maybe I wwill understand more than you think. Wwe might be saying the same thing._

_CC: Okay I )(ope so... I think... we should break up._

_CA: Wwhoa wwait wwhat_

_CC: 38( I'm really sorry, -Eridan it )(as been so hard looking after you and keeping you out of trouble! It )(as taken its toll, and )(onestly I am really ex)(austed..._

Eridan jolted up, the water within the ablution trap beginning to ripple as Eridan sat up. He watched the water calm down, his face in an expression that can only to described as morbid sorrow. That very memory will always be scorched within his thinkpan. Sometimes he wished that he could build a time machine to stop his younger self from ruining what used to be a great friendship. But that's in the past, and Feferi never really talked to him after that, especially after how he antagonized her relationship with Sollux. He lost friend after friend, and before he could realize his faults and for apologize to them they had already cut ties with him.   
Eridan sighed, grabbing a bar of soap, and began to clean himself off. 

^^^  
^^^

Eridan walked out of the ablution block, refreshed and cleaned, he was adjusting the collar of his uniform, wandering the ship trying to find Lernae when he stumbled upon the cockpit. He spotted Lernae sitting in the captain's chair, laying back into the seat. As he approached her he noticed they weren't alone, within the helmsmen area was one of Lernae's friends. The gold blood had her eyes closed, using her psionics to help steer the ship. What was her name again? Sophia? Syntia? Eridan couldn't recall, but he knew that her and Lernae were close, he's met her only a couple of times but she was aloof and had never spoke once while he was around, her eyes were also mysteriously hidden from sight the entire time too, usually from them being closed or having some type of head wear covering them.  
Eridan continued forwards, stopping at the side of his superior. He announced himself to her, "My Mistress, I've arrived." 

Lernae turned herself in her seat, looking up to the taller of the two, "At ease." Joked Lernae. "Take a seat, I've got a lot to explain."  
Eridan sat on the closest seat, turning himself towards the other. 

"Okay, so before you fell asleep and were in need of a bath, I took you because Her Imperial Solicitousness has called every Scienstiff, engineer, programmers, and inventors to her palace for an urgent announcement. I can't give you all the details since I don't really know myself and that she'll personally tell us, but it has to do something with the former Empress' reign and how now many older trolls have settled upon planets sweeps away from Alternia." She confided, her usually vigorous face going lethargic as she told Eridan the smaller details.   
She was leaning forwards in her seat, hands to her face in a thoughtful pose, eyes staring to the ground, her foot tapping the floor in a rhythm of sorts.

"Welp!" The launched herself back upwards, clapping her hands together, smiling once again. "We're close to our destination, so I think I'll go put on my Eminence uniform." Lernae rose from the captain's chair and looked at the male, "Eridan, can you be a doll and land the ship if I'm not back in time?" She asked giving him barkbeast eyes.

This action made Eridan smile a little, "No need to tell me twice my Mistress." Eridan stood and bowed, making the other sea dweller chuckle as she exited the cockpit.

Eridan sighed to himself as sat down in the captain's chair, looking out the ships front window, watching the water of the ocean pass by as they approached the palace of the current empress, and oh how he dreaded it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay some notes for this:  
> Since Scienstiffs are just mentioned in canon once and aren't really talked about past that one time I decided to add my headcanons to this troll rank.
> 
> There's, of course, the general or main officer of sorts that I decided to call Eminence, it fits the 8 word title. Because Lernae is in charge of the Scienstiffs Eridan has to refer to her as "My Eminence" or "My Mistress". Since she's higher ranked than Eridan despite being in the same caste, he has to bow and take orders from her.
> 
> Of course none of this is canon.


	3. Enter the Palace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She opened her mouth again, speaking once again in that ataractic voice, "Why the dull look Ampora?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is probably horribly written but whatever I need to update this story.

Eridan leaned back into the seat, sighing to himself, he couldn't possibly see Feferi now or ever really, especially how he chased her away all those sweeps ago.  
He knew for sure that Feferi knew of his position in the Scienstiffs, but whatever the matter is, it must be incredibly urgent to even have his whiny ass get dragged all the way to the imperial palace.

Eridan continued to drift off, head tilted upwards staring at the ceiling just wanting to get this whole ordeal over with when a soft voice sounded behind him. Smooth, opulent and pacifying; Eridan turned his body to see whose voice it belonged to.

And there was Lernae's friend, held up with the fuchsia tentadrills embedded within her skin, her gold eyes finally opened up staring down at him from her station. He finally was able to get a good look at her, and what she wore was a little skimpy for Eridan's taste, but the outfit suited her being well. This gold blood wore nothing but a one-piece bathing suit, a piece from her breast area was missing in the middle letting a crevasse of her breasts show; the one-piece, however, was long sleeved and went as far as to glove her hands as well. The black bathing suit made the gold designs pop, a swirling design of a vivid gold scaling itself on the lowblood's slight curves. Her symbol reminded Eridan of an eye, especially a third eye given the last part of the suit included a headband which the symbol was placed straight on her forehead.  
Her horns looked albeit like Nepeta's, only differing with the ends which were like Vriska's left crescent horn. He hair was messily put into a long braid which extended past her waist, but not past her knees.  
She opened her mouth again, speaking once again in that ataractic voice, "Why the dull look Ampora?" The helmsman asked, leaving Eridan stumbling with his words to give the other an answer.  
He managed to put himself together, ceasing himself from gawking at the other troll and walked up to her, looking upwards at her as he began to speak, spilling his guts, "Well, I'm fearing what would happen when we land at the palace."

Eridan paused, he began to chew his nails looking away from the other. And when he gained the courage to look back up at Sythia - locking violet eyes with golden ones - she stayed silent but nodded at him letting him know he could continue. "You see, I used to know the Empress when we were younger, but... I screwed everything up between us so it left her bitter towards me. When I finally realized how much I was a complete ass, it was too late as she broke ties with me all together and began her reign as Empress."  
Eridan stared at the floor, arms now at his side, why was he telling his problems to this troll? He barely even knew her.  
"She hates me." Mumbled Eridan.

There was a minute of silence with only the helmsman humming to herself until the gold blood spoke again.

"Sythia."

"Wwhat?" Eridan stuttered confusedly.

"You obviously didn't know my name, so I was introducing myself. My name is Sythia. Sythia Mafdet."

"O-oh, well I already knew that." Eridan was too prideful to admit he didn't know, so he simply folded his arms while looking up at her again.

Sythia, once again, hummed thoughtfully, "No, you didn't. You most likely perceived my name was Syntia, and I assure you I am never wrong." There was a cocky smile on her lips; this emotionless lass showed emotion just to show off, the nerve of her. He frowned at how right she was, he felt that she was reading his mind and oh how he hated that feeling.

"Okay. Fine. You were _right_."

She laughed softly at his admittance while Eridan rolled his eyes at her when the doors to the cockpit had been opened, Lernae stepped inside wearing her official uniform.  
She adjusted her violet visors that covered half of her face, the bottom pointed like her snake-like fangs.  
She walked, no, practically skipped to Eridan. "Heeey!" She chirped, "Are you and Sythia talking? What were you guys talking about? I never thought you and Sythia were to become close friends!"

"Uhh," The collar around his neck felt like it was choking him, he couldn't bare tell his Eminence what the two were talking about. How would she react if he told her him and the empress' past? How the Empress full on hates him platonically in every way possible?

"We have arrived." Alerted Sythia, thank gog, a distraction. Lernae had rushed to the captain's chair and began to hit buttons to land the ship, all the while ordering Eridan to sit for the landing. Eridan sat down in a random seat, turning to the psionic, who winked at him, Eridan smiled back and mouthed a 'thank you' to her, getting a smile in return.

Once the ship had finally landed, the two sea dwellers began helping Sythia out of her helmsman area; which wasn't at all hard, since she mostly used her psionics to free herself.  
Sythia stood up and stretched, revealing to Eridan that she wore no shoes at all, leading Lernae to explain to him that Sythia wasn't fond of wearing shoes whilst steering a ship of any kind.  
Sythia opened her own sylladex, receiving her gold slippers and a brown cloak that she wrapped around herself, hiding her body from the public eye.

They exited the ship and onto the landing area, escorted by servants to the hall which the meeting was being held. Sythia eventually split off from their group and wandered off somewhere within the palace walls muttering about being hungry, leaving the two sea dwellers alone as the two search for the meeting hall.  
Others headed in the same direction, most wearing the same Scienstiff uniform that Eridan wore. A typical black tailcoat uniform, black pants, and boots; the uniform displayed the trolls symbol and blood color of the possessed individual. The uniforms were nice, Eridan was most certain that it was Kanaya that designed them, but he felt it was like a more downgraded version of Lernae's superior outfit.  
All flashy, two pointed cape, and an armored body with pointed, sharp shoulder padding, gold at her neck area and at the ends of long leather gloves. The elbow parts of the gloves Lernae wore reminded him of a heinous sea snake that destroyed pirate ships whenever they crossed into the beast's territory. Her tailcoat was more like a dress, that clung to her curves and dropped to the floor, with the new symbol of the Scienstiffs on both sides of her thighs of the tailcoat. Her pants were striped at the sides and began to hide under her violet highrise boots. Eridan walked a few steps behind Lernae, watching as others began to bow slightly as she passed by, they entered the hall which Feferi would announce as to why they were all called. There was chatter among the others who most had already been seated within the large hall. They all sat in groups what their profession was, scientists, engineers, computer engineers, inventors, and etcetera sat in their respected groups. Lernae continued to her seat which was set on the stage next to other higher-ups and Feferi's seat. As Eridan began to the section he belonged to, a venomous voice lurched from behind him.  
It had been so long since he had heard such a nasty voice, and while the voice had matured he knew exactly who the voice belonged to.  
Eridan swiftly turned to the other, and why why why did he have to meet her here.

There she stood, Vriska Serket, so much has changed about her, for starters she no longer had that long thick hair that she used to haughtily flip whenever she spoke, it was shorted into a bob cut, and her bangs were cut into choppy bangs to completely cover her forehead.  
Her dress was also something new, the neck area was brought upwards and reminded Eridan of his former cape but with more a cobweb-like design, and downwards the outfit extended to a corset around her waist making her upper chest pop to show off her now mature breasts. The dress was big and poofy like a design you'll see at a ball, a spider web designed material falling upon the lower area of the dress, the sleeves were long too and fell into a into a trumpet style the closer the sleeves got to her wrists, which added a nice touch to her new regal look.

"Vriska." Gasped Eridan.

"Thaaaaaaaats right! How long was it since I broke up with you and left you for good? I can hardly remember!" She laughed at him, "It's not that I care for your desperate fishface, so don't get your hopes up." She cackled once again as she closed the distance between the two.

"Why would I get my hopes up over seeing you?" Asked Eridan, trying his best not to slug her in the face.  
Vriska brought her hands to her hips, smirking at him with some sort of knowing look.

"Oh, I meant for her too."

"Wwhat are you talking about?" He questioned, getting angrier as he continued on the talking to this spiderbitch.

"You know well what I mean. You came to see Feferi again, huh? Thinking you can come craaaaaaaawling back and she'll just decide to be your friend again?"

"Wwhat? Why would you think that? I'm a part of the Scienstiffs, I was basically, no, LITERALLY dragged here by my superior. They said this was an urgent meeting so I came nonetheless." Eridan was now seething at Vriska, whose smirk hadn't left her face the entire time he spoke.

"Well, whatever! It's not like we care about you anymore! It's been so much better since you left! No more whiny and overdramatic Eridan Ampora to snore us all to death!" She laughed in his face, making him shake with pure rage, why did have to bump into her of places? Their yell fest had caught attention from others, standing on the sidelines not daring to try to break them apart.  
Eridan was about to retort when a hoarse voice called to the both of them.  
"Aren't you too a little old to be fighting like a couple of grubs?" The two snapped their heads to the mystery troll, and there stood Equius, standing taller than the two of them, giving them a look of shame.  
Equius turned to Vriska, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the announcement? Feferi probably needs you."  
Vriska's eyes widened, her sickening smirk disappearing completely off her face as she thought of a response, but she, in the end, she couldn't think of a response so she huffed angrily at Equius, turned on her heels and stormed away into the crowd down towards the center stage.

"Why would Feferi need her?" Eridan watched as the cerulean blood vanished within the amalgam of engineers and scientists, his heart still beating furiously at the sudden interaction with his former kismesis.

"Ah, forgive me you hardly know the lives of your... former friends, so I'll inform you as to why. When Feferi became Empress, Vriska had somehow climbed the rank to become the Royal Advisory. We had thought that she was trying to take advantage of Feferi, but we were...mistaken..."

"And how were you guys mistaken?"

"Well let's just say Terezi, Vriska's current moirail, walked in on her and Feferi during a...sloppy make out session."

"Ew." Grimaced Eridan.

"Indeed, turns out the two have been in the red quadrant for awhile and Vriska becoming the Royal Advisory wasn't Vriska's idea but rather Feferi's, since she didn't want Vriska to go off and get into trouble, so now Vriska's stuck in the palace with Feferi."

The sound of a microphone made Eridan plug his ears as a voice began to speak. "Everyone take your seats! Her Imperial Solicitousness is about to speak!" It was Vriska standing on the center stage speaking into the microphone, and she was glaring at the duo in the back. Eridan stuck his tongue out at her, he could care less if she was the Royal Advisory or not.  
Eridan made his way to the Scienstiff area, sitting in an empty seat in the middle of the section. He looked around a bit to look at all the new faces, he managed to spot Equius in the engineer section but he seemed distracted by something. So he continued to look around room.  
Within the computer programmer area his eyes locked upon a pair of red and blue, he stared at the other awhile before he realized who he was staring at. Eridan quickly broke eye contact, looking down at his lap, fiddling with the uniform as he waited for Feferi to get on the small stage.

He looked up again when everyone was silenced, the clicks of high heels being the only sound. Everyone rose from their seats, Feferi stood in front of her seat, making a motion with her arm to let everyone know they could be seated again. As Feferi sat down, Vriska arose from hers and made her way to the microphone once again.  
"Our Imperial Solicitousness has summoned Alternia's greatest to help solve a massive problem that has shaken our very economy. Over a thousand sweeps ago, the Condesce took over as Empress, beginning to form a devastating world for many. She had founded the hemospectrum, and used this caste system to imprison many lowbloods to the life slavery. Rebellions arose from this unorthodox and unfair system, but they were defeated and silenced nonetheless. Though, the memories of those who fought for justice will not be forgotten. I remember finding a clue from my ancestor who wrote about the Sufferer and the Summoner, she lived through these rebellions, writing how inspiring the Sufferer was, and how courageous the Summoner was."

Eridan rolled his eyes, was Vriska not over obsessing over her ancestor?

"Their tragic deaths would not be in vain, not any longer, as our Grand Solicite who had finally managed to dethrone the Condesce and put an end her need for galactic conquest and chaos. But that's where we are concerned, many of the older trolls are now stuck upon these new planets, colonized what has been conquered without many resources." Feferi arose from her seat, as Vriska bowed a little and moved away letting her lover have the floor.

"These trolls have not much to work within, only ships that need helmsman to move and robots whose only mode are to cull. When we tried to contact them, they seemed tired of all their constant fighting, only a hand full managed to make it back to Alternia. In order to help them properly colonize these planets to further our empire, we must help them. But I'm in a loop realizing that if we do, psionics will be once again imprisoned to the ships, being nothing but a living battery. I cannot bear to see this happen to any troll! So what I'm asking you is this: try and building a spacecraft that can travel without the need of psionics, or in a way to doesn't make the ship a part of them. This spacecraft must be strong enough to leave our atmosphere and travel at lightning speed to these marked planets. I am sure within of long history we managed so, so this may not be a challenge at all for any of you."  
Eridan watched as Lernae pushed a button from a small tablet she held, making a three-dimensional map of the galaxy appear, appearing over the heads of the crowd. Feferi made a motion and increased the image to a certain area.  
"This red marked planet is Alternia," she then enhanced the image, making Alternia grow smaller, ten green blips appeared on the map, some near, and some far away from Alternia's red blip. "These green dots represent the planets which have been confirmed to be colonized or wanting to be colonized, I suspect however that there's more, but they're hidden away most likely thinking the Condesce is still in charge. But once word gets around they'll mostly register their planet too." Feferi smiled at the thought.  
"These planets are distanced away from 800,000 kilometers to 2,150,027 kilometers away, these calculations were made form our astronomer Terres Astron with the help of Lernae Hydras and Celest Infern." The indigo, violet, and olive blood stood and bowed before sitting again.  
"With this information, I hope that together this community of bright minds can come together and create new technology for future generations to come. You are now all dismissed."  
Feferi was the first to leave followed by the other authority figures on the stage, leaving everyone else to discuss the information they've been given, many people seemed excited and interested in the project while others seemed uninterested, hurrying out of the meeting hall. Eridan stood up, getting out into the hallway to find Lernae in hopes that she'll take him back home. Unfortunately, he couldn't spot her amongst the newly formed crowd. He made his way out of the large crowd and wandered around aimlessly throughout the enchanting hallways away in the castle, he really never has been to the palace before now so he took in the beautiful architecture and designs of the paint. He eventually got himself lost and upon exiting from a wrong door he had ended up of what to appeared to be a small courtyard.  
He looked around the small courtyard, there was no roof, letting the glowing green and pink hues of the alternian moon's light deep into the beautifully flourished flora and trees that resided on the sides of the small area.

"Shit." He whispered, turning on his heel to come from which he came, but he didn't process in his head that someone had stepped into the courtyard and he ran into another troll while he was trying to backtrack out of the small courtyard, making him stumble away from the other body. Eridan quickly muttered apologies as he stared downwards away from the mystery trolls eyes, letting Eridan catch a glimpse of the clothing of the other. Gold, black, and a symbol of a numeral two.  
His mind quickly registered the yellow outfit and the symbol that he faintly remembered from his past.  
"Shit." He whispered again.

"What are you doing here." Asked the other, "Hey, are my feet that intriguing?" Eridan looked up at the other, if he assumed meeting Feferi would be the worst possible fate for him while he was here, he was dead wrong.

"I uh-" Eridan quickly looked away. "I came for the urgent meeting." He spoke, once again fiddling with his uniform.

"I know that you idiot, why exactly are you in this area here." Sollux pointed to ground below them, mouth now in a snarling position.

Eridan, tried taking steady breaths, staring down at his hands which began to shake.  
"I...got lost.." He answered, if Sollux said anything he couldn't hear, how he hated himself so much but he was completely lost in thought.

_Why are you here?_

Sollux continued to talk to Eridan but he couldn't hear, everything felt so distant from him.

_Thinking you can come craaaaaaaaling back and she'll just decide to be your friend again?_

Why why why why did come here?

_It's been so much better when you left!_

Vriskas right, she's right everyone hates him.

"Hey fucking listen to me you stupid fishdick!"

Eridan snapped himself from his thoughts, looking up at Sollux, whose eyes were completely shielded by those red and blue glasses he always wore. Eridan didn't realize it until the tear was already halfway down his face meeting with his lips, letting the salt be tasted.  
"Huh?"

"I was telling you directionth tho you could get back you thtupid piece of thhit." Sollux lisped, which was weird because Eridan had thought he completely rid himself of it.

"Sorry.." Anywhere but in those red and blue visors, anywhere but there can Eridan look.  
They stood silent for awhile until when Sollux took a step forwards to Eridan and said something that left Eridan speechless.

"I miss our banters, Eridan."  
Eridan stood there, staring at the colors hoping to find out if he was messing with him or not. But a door opened from behind them, revealing Sythia, who looked as aloof as ever. She crossed the courtyard over to where Eridan stood, her cloak seeming to make her look like she floated. She stopped when she reached the two, and bless her soul, began to speak to Eridan.  
"Hello, Eridan. Did you get lost?"

"Yes, he did I was about to show him the way back." Seethed Sollux to the other gold blood. Sythia squinted at him, looking Sollux up and down with a judging look.

"No need, I was the one to bring him here, so I'll take him back to his hive. Come on, Eridan, let's go find Lernae."  
Sythia took hold of one of Eridan's arms, leading him out the door that he had entered. The violet blood sighed in relief, he didn't know what to say or do without his former friends finding out and hating him even more, everything he says or does is always misinterpreted by them and Feferi would have his head if she felt he still was the douche he was when he was six sweeps.  
But overall, he was glad that Sythia had come out of nowhere and saved his ass from possibly getting beaten or even culled by Sollux's powerful psionics.

When the two were far away from the courtyard, Eridan sheepishly turned his head to look behind, praying that Sollux didn't follow them; and luckily he didn't. Breathing another sigh, he murmured thanks to his heroine, once again.  
She nodded, still looking forward as she continued walking, replying back, "No problem. You looked...Uncomfortable, so I decided to step in and help you out of your situation.."

They continued walking, looking out for their other sea-dwelling friend, both now in complete silence. Eridan didn't know how to exactly reply to Sythia's comment towards his encounter with Sollux, how do you say to a new acquaintance 'Oh, I used to get into fights with that guy because I was jealous of the relationship he had with my former moirail' ?  
"Was he.." began the Psion, breaking the silence, "A former friend of yours you had spoken about?"

"Yes." Eridan licked his lips, the taste of bitter salt from the tear still on his lips, "He told me something weird...He told me that he misses our banters."

II

Sollux watched as the other gold blood took Eridan away from him, the doors opening with a whoosh as they exited; he starred forwards at them as they walked away, contemplating whether he should run after them.

Even when the doors closed and their bodies vanished behind the cold metal, Sollux continued to stare forwards - quiet, regretful that he couldn't even have just one normal conversation with his former violet friend.


	4. Lonely Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sollux gets emotional.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this shitty writing?
> 
> Yes, yes it is.

Seeing him again felt like it was simply a dream, a hazy memory that begins to fade once it's over, details fading from the storage of your brain; it makes you ponder whether your brain made most of the memory up. And whilst Sollux wasn't fond of Eridan, it still felt odd after he disappeared completely from their group. It's been months since he last saw him being dragged away by another gold blood and disappearing within the maze-like hallways of the Palace. Sollux has been regretting his decision not to run after him and just try to have a conversation and to just be friends again. Eridan was on his mind twenty-four seven since that day and he doesn't know why.

Sollux leaned back in his seat, looking over a code he's barely even started, his mutant mind was to preoccupied with the color violet and ocean waves. Sollux sighed, deciding he needed a break to clear his head, and rubbed his hands on his face, sighing loudly with a tired annoyance.  
No one really payed attention nor even cared that Eridan left, going on with their lives and climbing the ladder of success when Feferi culled the Condesce and became empress. Sollux remained doing what he knew best, so he stayed inside days on in, coding away to his hearts content, with his friends checking up on him every once and awhile to make sure he didn't die of starvation.

Things changed in their small group, sometimes the others, like Sollux, disappeared from the Internet for days doing their own jobs. Sollux and Feferi had broken up when things began to change, but he knew throughout the whole time they dated, the way she looked at him, just screamed that her red feelings were a farce fabricated in order to completely rid her thoughts of Eridan because she was simply more pale for him anyways. But Sollux was loyal to Aradia, so he sought no need to talk to Feferi about personal matters that require a good shooshing or pap.

With work in the way, the friend group never had much time chat anymore, making the group grow smaller due to them along talking to the ones they were close too, this new foundation of a group in uneven numbers made Sollux queasy altogether. He hate uneven numbers. And maybe perhaps it was the uneven number that made Sollux want to talk to Eridan. To get number eleven back to make their group go back to twelve, to bring back their former friend to glue the group back together, to make the uneven number back to a number divisible by two.

Sollux shook that idea right out of his head, he wasn't stupid enough to fall for the lies his mind created, he knew far to well that numbers weren't the problem, but what exactly the problem was when it came to Eridan he didn't know.

Sollux brought up trollian on his husktop, weighing his options on which friend would be best to talk to about this personal matter when his moirail was gone for business at another friends hive, and he couldn't bother with Karkat, Kanaya, or Feferi. They probably hated Eridan the most and would tell Sollux to cease thinking of him telling him how he was toxic and how it was good that he left their group.  
Vriska and Terezi were out of the question, those lasses were to far gone in the head and would preach to have Eridan's head on a sliver platter. Gamzee and Tavros? Oh no, Gamzee has changed his personality to murder everything in sight, and Tavros was always scared of Eridan.  
Equius and Nepeta? Not Equius, he was the one preoccupying his moirail with work, but maybe Nepeta.

Sollux clicked on her trolltag, and immediately he got a response from the olive blooded cat girl.

\---- twinArmageddons [TA] began to troll arsenicCatnip [AC] ----

AC: :33< *ac steps out her cave in a confursed yet interested mewnner, never has grumpy bee man appurroached ac first! Nor anyone really..*

TA: nepeta can you 2top your roleplaying bull2hit ii've come two talk to 2eriiou2ly about 2omething that's been bugging me

AC: :33< oh

AC: :33< what is it? Can't you just talk with Aradia about whatever it is? She is YOUR moirail silly

TA: well 2he'2 actually bu2y doing 2omething today 2o ii don't want two bother her

AC: :33< well she doesn't look busy to me!

TA: waiit what

TA: ii2 2he there with you? iis 2he really not doiing anythiing?

AC: :33< ok well I kinda lied

AC: :33< she isn't doing anything right now, she's waiting until equhiss tells her what to do next. Him and and purridan are building some sort of machine

TA: waiit

TA: eriidan?

TA: you guy2 are wiith eriidan?

AC: :33< yeah?? we're at his hive actually...

TA: what

AC: :33< are you mad? I know you and him never really gotten along, but he's changed so much he's actually a nice guy! Please don't get mad at Aradia!

TA: no ii'm not mad

AC: um

TA: iit's actually eriidan ii needed two talk two you

AC: :33< oh

AC: :33< OH

AC: :33< OMGG

TA: no not iin that way 2top thiinkiing everythiing ii2 about 2hiipiing

AC: :33< (=ＴェＴ=)

TA: anyway2

TA: do you remember that really biig and iimportant conference ff and vk 2et up 4 month2 ago?

AC: :33< oh yes I didn't go though, but equhiss did! He saw Purridan there!

TA: yeah 2o did ii

TA: ii diidn't know at fir2t he wa2 there untiil he and vk got iinto a fiight near the entrance of the hall

AC: :33< oh yeah!! Equius told me he stopped the fight

TA: yeah

TA: and whiile we were waiitiing for the conference to 2tart we made eye contact and he looked away iimmediiately

TA: after that he left

TA: ii thought that was last tiime ii'd ever 2ee hiim agaiin but then ii kiinda ran iinto hiim iin one of tho2e many courtyard2 hiidden wiithiin the Palace

TA: he diidn't even look at me, he just looked at the floor, 2omethiing felt off about hiim, he 2eemed...

TA: 2cared

TA: 2igh

TA: ii told hiim a bunch of 2tupiid 2tuff and then some other gold blood come2 iin and take2 hiim away

TA: ii wanted two go after hiim but ii diidn't

TA: and he'2 been on my miind ever 2iince

TA: ..

TA: nepeta?

AC: .......

TA: ?

AC: ..............

TA: ugh 2top

AC: :33< SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

AC: :33< Pawlux you miss him!!

TA: 2hut up

TA: ju2t

TA: 2hut up

AC: :33< no I won't! Pawlux listen you miss him because while you two did fight a lot it was probably a way of you saying you're I thought of him as a friend or purrhaps a rival suitable for you maybe.

AC: :33< but that doesn't matter, at least right now it doesn't

AC: :33< you want to make to make things right again, then do it. Just try talking to him normally whenever you see him. Apologize to him on how you treated him in the past

AC: :33< he certain did with me! And I forgave him because he was being honest about it

AC: :33< so he'll be truthful to you, and you should be truthful to him. Maybe instead of being enemies you might get along and actually be friends.

AC: it'd be good for Eridan

AC: he's so scared now

AC: scared of who he was and what he did, and how if he screws up again it'll make everyone hate all over again. I truly believe he thinks he'll never be redeemed

AC: but

AC: I want to prove him wrong

AC: I just want him to be happy for once

TA: .....

TA: .........

AC: ??

TA: I... gotta go

\---- twinArmageddons [TA] stopped trolling arsenicCatnip [AC] ----

AC: :33< HMMMMM

AC: :33< I'm going to update my shipping wall

II

Sollux groaned into the palms of his hands, he had exited the chat leaving only the chat client still running on his monitor; of course Nepeta would've tried to make it about shipping, but nonetheless she was right, if you wanted Eridan back in life it would be best if you just apologized to him. Maybe talking with Nepeta wasn't that bad, besides all that heart felt "let's all be best furiends" bullshit she preached to you but she was right.  
Though it was all about whether or not you would or could bring yourself to walk up to him and apologize, you can't exactly swallow your pride so easily.

Another ping sounds from your computer. This time it was someone else. You groan, you mostly certainly did not want to speak to this person, especially with your self loathing coming to an all time low AND eridan occupying your mind at the moment. This person will do backflips to try to shoosh you and kick you in the groin for thinking about the former violet friend. But if Sollux ignored them then hell would probably break lose from their worry, so Sollux had no choice, he clicked on their troll handle.

\---- cuttlefishCuller [CC] began to troll twinArmageddon [TA] ! ----

CC: Hey shoallux!!!!

TA: hey ff

TA: 2o why the 2udden me22age?

CC: Oh stop being a grouch! I'm just checking up on you.

CC: We also haven't talked in so long!!!

CC: I've missed my angry gold blood!! 38D

TA: yeah ii've mii22ed you two

TA: iit'2 ju2t thiing2 have been preoccupyiing me from talkiing two other2 much

CC: And by things, you mean your coding right?

TA: hehe yeah

TA: 2o iis there any progre22 wiith that 2pace2hiip that doe2n't harm troll2 of my ca2te?

CC: As of right now...

CC: There is!!

CC: Some trolls were so excited for this project and so many have been building ships!! It's so -EXCITING!!! 38D

CC: Oh, I can't wait till we're out in space helping others settle onto new worlds...

CC: As cruel as it sounds, I'm glad the Condesce took over multiple worlds.

CC: Yes, many species were sent to extinction, but with so many grubs being born, and so many adult trolls still alive we would've been over crowded on Alternia!

CC: We now have other planets to inhabit! 38)

TA: wow

TA: there'2 liiterally no fiish pun2 iin there

CC: >8O wow shoallux I was being S-ERIOUS.

TA: hehe

TA: ii know

TA: thiis makiing wonder iif the machiine eq ii2 buiildiing ha2 to do wiith your liittle project...

CC: 38O

CC: --EQUIUS IS BUILDING A SHIP?!

CC: Oh my cod! This is so ------EXCITING!!! 38DD

CC: Oh but how did you know? Hmmm??

TA: np told me

CC: Wait you actually talk to nepeta?

TA: yeah iit'2 becau2e ii wa2 bored and 2he wa2 the only one ii could talk two

CC: Talk to about what?

TA: nothiing really

TA: iit's just aa iis bu2y helpiing eq

TA: 2o ii deciided to check up on her viia np, that'2 about iit really

CC: Hmmm...

CC: Shoallux, I know when you're lying!

CC: What were you really talking to Nepeta about?

TA: ii wa2n't lyiing

CC: Yes you are!!

TA: no

CC: Yes.

TA: no

CC: Yes!

TA: no

CC: Yes!!

TA: OKAY FIINE

TA: ii diid liie

CC: 38( Sollux, why?

TA: becaus2 ii know you'll get mad

CC: No I won't! Sollux you're my best frond I'll never get mad at you!

CC: Just tell me please 38(

TA: alriight..

TA: ju2t promii2e you won't get mad at me

CC: Ocray, I promfish!

TA: or np or aa or eq

CC: Um, okay! I won't, just tell me!

TA: well ii 2poke to np becau2e ii couldn't talk two aa 2ince 2he wa2 bu2y helpiing eq, ii diidn't know np wa2 there wiith them though

TA: 2o ii ju2t

TA: ii ju2t needed two talk two 2omeone about another 2omebody

CC: 38O

CC: Shoallux I was online too! Why didn't you talk to me!

TA: becau2e you would've gotten mad

CC: Sollux!! No I wouldn't!!

TA: ye2 you would!!

TA: becau2e that 2omebody wa2

TA: wa2 eriidan

CC: What.

TA: ii 2aw hiim at the conference ff

TA: ii acciidentally ran iinto hiim, he wa2 diifferent. ii know he wa2 diifferent

TA: and ii know for a FACT that no matter what ii said about hiim two you, you would've 2aid two forget about hiim

CC: Sollux.

TA: you would've talked 2hiit about hiim, de2piite the fact we haven't 2een hiim iin 2WEEP2

TA: np told me all about how he apologiized two her, and how 2orry he felt for how he acted

TA: and ii'm 2ure he apologiized to aa and eq becau2e he'2 there wiith them, buiildiing that machiine ii told you about

TA: and

TA: you 2hould've 2een hiim at the conference ff

TA: he looked 2o 2cared of me

TA: ii ju2t

TA: felt 2o bad for hiim

CC: He could be MANIPULATING you Sollux, you shouldn't trust him!

TA: we BOTH know that he 2ucked at maniipulation ff!

CC: Where's the Sollux that said he'll kill Eridan? HUH?

TA: we were wriiggler2 back then FF, ii've changed 2o much 2iince then, and 2o ha2 he

CC: I DONT BELIEVE IT.

CC: He was a horrible person Sollux just forget about him!

TA: UGH

TA: ii knew you would 2ay that!

TA: you act liike you're 2ome 2ort of 2aiint that'2 the kiinde2t hiighblood two ever walk the land

TA: but iif you're goiing two keep thii2 2tupiid grudge on 2omeone who you haven't talked two for 2weep2 wiithout thiinking of what thii2 could do to theiir mental health, then iit goe2 to 2how you're wiilliing hate anyone who doe2 you wrong

TA: and even iif they try or do apologiize, they're 2tiill pu2hed a2iide becau2e you won't lii2ten two them

TA: and becau2e of that.. then you're no better than the conde2ce

CC: Sollux.

CC: Don't you EVER say to shit to me again.

TA: oh 2o now you've broken your promii2e

TA: 2top fuckiing lyiing two your2elf about beiing a goddamn 2aiint that lowblood2 needed and admiit that you're ju2t a2 bad a2 anyone el2e

TA: ju2t

TA: UGH

CC: Sollux?

\---- twinArmageddons is now an idle troll! ----

CC: Sollux I'm so sorry!!

CC: I shouldn't have gotten mad

CC: It's just that eridan... Is a total jerk!!

CC: Why or how could you forgive him so easily...

\---- twinArmageddons computer exploded! ----

CC: Sollux!

CC: oh my cod oh my cod...

Sollux looked at the remains of what used to be his computer, glass shards scattered everywhere, wires glistening as electricity tried to continue running through the now broken copper wires. Sollux felt blood running from his nose, and proceeded to lift an arm to wipe the mustard blood away. He could barely see, his eyes clouded with sparks of red and blue, the colors meshing together letting the color purple be seen.

Purple.

He never had gotten into an argument before with Feferi, debates yes, but fighting with her and having her yell back was something entirely new, it left Sollux paralyzed with regret.  
But then he thought back to Eridan and his face he last saw him, how he witness him crying because of how TERRIFIED he was of him. And then he didn't regret anything he said to Feferi.

A sharp pain began in his mind, telling Sollux that he had gotten a migraine. Clutching his head, Sollux stumbled around his respite block, looking for his migraine pills, groaning as the pain got worse. He eyesight still clouded with sparks of red and blues, and he ran directly into a wall.

At least he thought it was a wall.

Sollux hit the wall angrily in response, not knowing why exactly he took out on the wall, but he did so anyway. His trashing caused his head to throb with pain even more; he fell down to the floor, getting down into a fetal position, sobbing loudly as his migraine went from bad to deleterious. He cried out for Aradia, knowing full well that she couldn't hear him, but he still desperately called aloud for her. As Sollux continued to cry pitifully on the floor, when felt a sticky goop fall on his face he stopped crying for a split second before something heavier crashed down on him. He groaned in agony as a heavy weight crashed into his thin body. More of the sap-like solution fell over his face once the object fell on him, creeping its way down Sollux's face and managing to enter his mouth.  
He pause as he tasted the substance, it's sweet taste somewhat calming him down his psionics a bit to let him look what fell on him, the roaring crof his psionics subduing also he managed to calm himself. As he stared forwards, still managing to discover what lay on top of him, he heard a buzzing sound all around him. And that's when he realized. His beehives had fallen on him.

He had consumed mind honey.

And with the realization, the mind honey kicked in, causing his powers to go chaotically unstable. Sollux blasted through his beehives, his bees buzzing away with fear at the sudden explosion of psionics. Sollux proceeded to crash through this wall of his communal hive stem, revealing himself to the night skies of Alternia. Zapping through the sky, he headed towards the hive that his pale mate was located at, his psionics flaming around him as the mind honey engulfed him all together, letting only his instincts lead him to his destination.

He needed Aradia.

He needed Aradia _now_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ horribly written I know, I just need to update this fic, I may revise this chapter once I actually feel motivated but right now enjoy this shit


	5. Bubbled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you sure?" 
> 
> "Yes, absolutely. I'll make sure nothing hits you, I promise."
> 
> Nepeta looked towards the other two, looking at Equius' pained face, and returned her gaze to Eridan. "Okay, I trust you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I murdered science with my bare hands and I'm now taking liberties on how science works on alternia.

Eridan ducked down quickly to keep out of Equius' way, the blue blood had picked up a heavy piece of metal and spun around rather fast, almost decapitating the sea dweller in the process. But as Eridan ducked down, he held a stoic face, this was something Eridan dealt with constantly, given he usually works with the strong troll. He continued on working on the engineering on the experiment the two work vigorously on. Sparks flew as Eridan put two wires together, observing the machine and how it reacted to the two wires connecting, concluding that it was safe, Eridan proceeded to meld the two wires together.  
He got up after he finished up that little area of the machine and stretched himself out. His back popped as he stretched, tension within his lower back smoothing out.  
Eridan sighed, and rubbed his eyes from under his glasses.  
Aradia walked by him as she used her telekinesis to carry multiple items to Equius, humming softly to herself, slowing as she reached the blue blood. As he watched the duo discuss the use of the pieces they gathered, he noticed Nepeta on top of Equius' hive, sitting down while messing around on her communicator, smiling away without a care in the world. He made his way towards the hive, approaching the well designed porch that screamed high blood. He entered inside Equius' hive, and headed towards the kitchen area. He needed a drink, himself parched from all the hard work he had been doing, and as if the lusus knew of his needs, had already made Eridan a drink.  
Eridan thanked the lusus and took the glass with him as he headed back outside, seating himself on the steps of the porch. He sat quickly, drinking his ice water with the funny straw Arthur put in the glass. Observing Equius as he weld scraps of metal together, he didn't notice the sound of steps above him or the peering eyes of another. And as Nepeta jumped down from the roof top Eridan began to choke on his drink, his gills flapping in an attempt to suck in air. He managed to cough up the liquid, but had gotten the attention of everyone around him. Nepeta giggled at him, and proceeded to laugh harder as Eridan glared at her growing a shade of Violet as he did so. Aradia attempted to keep her laughter in but failed miserably, and Equius, somehow, managed to overhear over the welding and just shook his head before putting his welding mask back on and continued his work.  
Eridan, still embarrassed by what happened, put his water to the side and brought his knees up to his chest, sighing heavily.  
"Gog, why me."

Nepeta took a seat to the left him, and Aradia walked over to them to sit on his right. "Be _claws_ , its funny-cute when it happens to you, silly." The olive blood poked his cheek, still giggling from the scene.

"Yes, I couldn't agree more with Nepeta, out of everyone we know whenever something like this happens your reactions are always the cutest." Aradia teased, getting the sea dweller to hide his face within his knees.

Eridan groaned loudly at their japing, because that's the only way he could think of for a response. The girls giggles grew softer and the sounds of sparks overpowered them, the two now watching as Equius worked with complete awe. Eridan had lifted his head after the two lasses ceased harassing him, and now took the time to look at the surroundings.

He never really had the time to look around with his work always in the way, and oh how he regretted not looking around sooner.

Equius had retreated out into the wilderness, away from his old hive and away from Vriska. Trees surrounded the area, fortifying and hiding the hive from outsiders. The trees were massive, standing at outrageous heights. And while Eridan wasn't technically a botanist, the width of the trunks gave off the idea that these woods were centuries sweeps old. The leaves fell off the branches as the wind blew, sending shades of pinks to flutter down the earth, littering around the yard in a messy manner. The scenic view of the forest gave a ataraxic feel to Eridan, who began to tune out the two broads on either side of him.  
Until of course, Aradia snapped a finger in front of his face, calling attention to the rust blood.

"Hey, Danny, are you listening?" Aradia said, while snapping her fingers, and flashed a smile of red when he turned towards her.

"Well I am now." Responded Eridan while his ears fluttered out of a little annoyance. Nepeta crawling herself down the grass below the stairs, she face herself towards the other two while seating herself in the crisscross position.

"Okay good. I was wondering what exactly you and Equius were building?" Aradia asked.

"Oh oh! _Mew_ two!" Squealed Nepeta, her head resting on her hands, eyes shining with curiosity. Well, curiosity did kill the cat.

Good thing satisfaction brought it back.

"Equius didn't explain what we're making?" Scoffed Eridan, giving the ghost gal a look, before shifting his eyes over to the cat girl. Aradia giggled a bit at his facial features he gave them, before shaking her head "no" in response.  
She got a groan in return.

"Equ _hiss_ didn't say anything! He's always so busy with _hiss_ work." Pouted Nepeta, huffing annoyingly while preceding to fold her arms, and Aradia just continued to smile.  
Eridan messaged his temples, he didn't know whether of not these two lasses were going to be able to fully take in the amount of information he's about to give to them. But on the other hand, he if didn't tell them what the machine was he'll never hear the end of it from both of them.  
Eridan sighed loudly.

" _Whale_ –" He started, getting playful groans at his fishpun, but they're giggling could be heard afterwards, "this machine is a astral telecommuting signal booster." He paused letting them take in the information.  
"Lately, due to multiple trolls having settled on planets they lack a lot of necessities and they're signals and communication devices are also quite poor to reach us or just severe at random when they do communicate, Equius and I thought it would be best if we built a communication transmitter of sorts to help out...The pink bubble at the top sucks in sounds waves and electro magnetic fields that begin to form within said bubble, this causes the sound waves within to generate into a sound source that can be picked up across the galaxy by even the weakest of communication devices, and with the electro magnetic fields within the the bubble as well it causes a electro magnetic sound wave. I suppose? Uh - this will cause the devices of trolls scattered across the galaxy to be able to communicate with Alternia again. Though this is just a prototype, and there's most likely flaws within the plan, so we'll just test it out first to see if the bubble will actually pop and send a blast and if devices can pick up its signal.... And you're confused aren't you?"

Both of the girls stared at him wide-eyed, confused expressions also being made as the their mouths gaped open to try to grasp the science behind the machine. Gibberish came and went as they tried to process everything and Eridan felt pride wash over him because he now knew so much.

"Gog..." Is all what Aradia said, still trying to put words together in her head.

"That was so CON _FUR_ SING!" Nepeta ripped off her blue hat and bit on it angrily, "Ugh! Why can't I understand these things?" She continued yelling exasperatingly.

Eridan chuckled softly, "Well this isn't even the whole machine! In fact this is just a smaller version! Like I said, the bubble is top priority, whether or not it'll work. There's a possibility that if to much electro magnetic sounds where sucked in, the bubble will harden to be a concealment strong enough to keep air in it. So that's to show how strong, and easily trapped things can get within the bubble."

"Um." Nepeta stopped chewing on her hat, which led to Eridan snatching it away from her and placing it back on her head, she grumbled as she fixed the hat into place, and brushed strands of hair  from her face.

"Ugh, my head hurts now... Rip my head." Aradia whined, putting her head in her palms as she tried to rub the oncoming headache away, but to no avail. Nepeta climbed back onto the stairs to seat herself next to Aradia, rubbing circles on rust bloods back.

"It's not that hard to understand y'know." The sea dweller stated as Nepeta booed him and Aradia blew him a raspberry. Eridan rolled his eyes and got up, about to head inside to ask the gentlemanly lusus if there was aspirin around to give to his low blood friend.  
But he neared the front door,  everyone stopped what they were doing, the hairs on the back of they're necks standing up, instincts telling them something was wrong. And the group of four just stared at one another. It was quiet, everything felt like time stopped, Eridan's finned twitched as he looked around anxiously, and then he heard something from the distance.  
Cracks and crashing sounds could be faintly heard, and it got closer to the group as they stood still. A tingling of electric energy filled the air around them as the night sky grew a into a hue of purple.

No, it wasn't the sky changing color.

Nearby trees began to break and topple over as the purple energy grew near, branches flew around, then scraps a metal were soon picked up as well.  
A screaming could be heard and as the last of the trees that hid the hive would ripped from the ground and singed to ash, the crew got a glimpse of what or who was causing the havoc within the forest.  
There floated Sollux crying as things flew around him cutting into the hive behind them and stabbing the dirt underneath them with terrifying strength. His psionics were going crazy, crackling loudly as beams shot everywhere, zapping the area into dust. The mustard blood in question looked like he was suffering, as if this power wasn't from his own cause, blood dripping from his nose as he continued to wail in his obvious pain.

"SOLLUX!" Yelled Aradia she used her telekinesis to push away debris from the three that stood on the stairs, "WHAT HAPPENED?"  
She of all of them was, of course, concerned, this only ever happened when Sollux consumed mind honey, her morial instincts kicking in to pacify the other or attempt to put him to sleep. But right when she began to float up towards to pacify him a scream sounded from the olive blood next to her, pointing towards her own moirail. Everyone watched as a bigger piece of metal flew towards the indigo, but he jumped away before it crushed him. Unfortunately the metal still managed to take a bite out of him.  
He screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, gaining the concerned attention from the others as they scattered across the lawn doing their best to avoid the shards of metal.

Equius lay upon the grass, a deep cut on the back of his left leg. Blue blood poured from his leg, decorating the green grass. Aradia panicked and flew over to the Sagittarius, using her powers to move away the other debris from her injured friend. She ripped the end of her skirt off and tied it around his leg, pressing down on the deep wound to try to cease the bleeding.  
"ERIDAN!" Aradia yelled over the cracks of electricity and the crashing of materials. "THE BUBBLE ERIDAN! YOU SAID IT TRAPS ELECTRICITY?!"

"ITS STILL A PROTOTYPE! I DONT EVEN KNOW IF IT WORKS!" He screamed back, watching as Equius' porch began to break apart from the safety from their transmitter.

"WELL YOU GOTTA TRY! SOLLUX IS OVER LOADED WITH POWER, HE CANT CONTROL IT! HE MAY ACCIDENTALLY KILL US! WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING!" She replied as she moved away more debris from her and Equius, pushing the scraps deep within earth stopping them from flying off again. Eridan continued to watch her as he thought of her insane idea. There was a possibility that the bubble didn't even work, or what it worked to well? The pop could deafen everyone here. Or worse, it could kill Sollux.  
He gulped, continuing to watch the rust blood as she protected the high blood. Eridan's eyes shifted to the indigo on the ground, clutching his leg in pain, blood still continuing to spill out. He looked towards Nepeta who had taken shelter with him, her eyes looking at Equius in utter worry.  
Eridan breathed in, clutching the hem of his shirt – he had made up his mind.  
"Nepeta!" He said as he managed to drift Nepeta's attention towards him. "I need you to do something!"

"Yes, yes! Anything to help Equius!" She screamed back, tears forming in her eyes.

"I need you face the bubble at the end of the machine towards Sollux."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely! I'll make sure nothing hits you, I promise."

Nepeta looked towards the other two, looking at Equius' pained face, and returned her gaze to Eridan. "Okay, I trust you."

"Good." Eridan said as he brought out his Ahab's Crosshairs from his strife specibus. "Let's do this."  
And with a nod from Nepeta they leapt away from their hiding spot, Nepeta using her agility to jump upon to machine while Eridan sniped anything that came her way. The olive blood reached the area she needed to go and began to lift the transmitters bubbled end so it was closer to Sollux. Everyone waited in anticipation to see whether or not the bubble would work, and all let out a sigh of relief once the psionics had began to get sucked within the pink bubble.  
It was a relaxing few seconds until Sollux began to get sucked in as well.  
"Sollux!" Aradia yelled again to her friend, watching as he got trapped in the pink bubble. As Sollux panicked within the confines of the bubble, it began to fill with more electric energy, turning its bubblegum pink hue into more like a dark shade of purple. The machine began to shake slightly as the bubble began to overload with psionic enegry, the claws that held the bubble began to spark a light blue, signifying that the machine could blow up. Nepeta and Eridan back away slowly from the transmitter, shocked that Sollux had so much power.

"Sollux may accidentally blow the bubble up... He could hurt everyone!" Groaned Equius as he attempted to sit up straight.

"Then what do we do?!" Responded Eridan, still looking up at Sollux, who returned his gaze, staring back dolefully, banging on the walls, his mouth opened wide as he most likely screamed at Eridan to let him out.

"We have to... Send him off–oh fuck!" Equius had attempted to stand up, but his injured leg made him fall back down, Aradia knelt down looking at him pitifully as she moved his arm around her as she tried to help him up.

"What–no! I won't shoot him off! If the others find out they'll never forgive me!" Eridan broke eye contact with Sollux only to look to Equius as Aradia finally helped him up.

"And even if you don't blast him away, they'll still attempt to put the blame on you." Equius said as he limped along towards them with Aradia as a crutch. He returned his sights to Sollux, who still was pleading to be let out, his powers still engulfing the inners of the bubble.

"It won't hold him for long!" Aradia screamed at him from across the lawn.

"We need to do something now!" Said Nepeta from behind him.

"I-I just need to think! I can't just-I need to–" Sollux looked at him, having stopped hitting the bubble, giving him a downcast expression.

"I'm sorry Sollux. I–"

"Eridan!" Someone, he didn't know and he didn't care who, had called out to him.

Eridan closed his eyes compunctiously, knowing what he had to and made his decision finale. He turned to find Equius near the machine control panel, along with Aradia and Nepeta. He raised his arm up, nodding to Equius who had pointed the firing button to Nepeta. He looked back to the gold blood, who still kept a depressing look on his face.  
"FIRE!" Eridan commanded, and with a whirring sound the machine made after Nepeta hit the button, the bubble which trapped Sollux blasted off, disappearing within the dark hues of the night sky.  
Smoke from the machine fell to the earth, flowing around as it dissipated into the air. Eridan looked down at the ground, left arm holding his right, not knowing to regret his finale decision when the gold blood left the area.

"What the hell?" An unknown voice called from the destroyed area of the forest, a former friend of Eridan's emerging from the ruble.

Karkat glared at him, dressed head to toe in silver armor, a dark grey cape flowing behind him. His other, former friends came into view as the exited the forest. All holding the same glare that Karkat did. Eridan stare back at them, hugging himself as he began to shake in fear, stuttering his words before falling silent again.

"What did you just **_do_**?"

Now Eridan truly regretted his decision. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck, ok I know this one took awhile but it's mainly because I don't know how to describe the science and shit behind the machine and it's probably poorly described as well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	6. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He couldn't figure if you were mad at Eridan or not, the mutant brains within your skull battling the thought of the violet waves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incredibly short chapter focusing on Sollux, I may revise this chapter in the future (but then again that's what I say with all my chapters)

Sollux woke up, everything wasn't different than he last remembered he felt colder than he usually was and darkness had engulfed his surroundings. He couldn't remember what happened, or where he was.  
But wherever he was, he was floating and not by his own cause. A glimmer of lighting shone around him, but it was to far from him, the sparkling jewels of light source away from his grasp. He turned his head in other directions, trying to solve the mystery of his current location.  
And then spotted a green sphere.  
The lime green moon. The moon he was always remember looking up at, but now he looked down at the celestial object. Not much past the moon he spotted Alternia, its massive size dwindling in size as he floated away from his home planet.

Everything was so small now.

Things he knew and were custom to were nothing but a glowing light, he was far from going home again. And he didn't want to believe it.

He was surrounded by a pink bubble, the only thing that kept him safe in the vast, horrid, black ocean that was space. He breathed slowly, trying his best to stay calm as he sat in complete silence.

The silence was deafening.

A slight of spark snapped from his eyes, illuminating the bubble in a weird hue of purple.

 _Purple_.

Sollux clutched his head as he made his powers disappear, he could barely muster up any strength to shoot himself back home. Hell, the tiny spark he had made triggered a migraine, and his body felt incredibly weak. What had happened exactly? Everything was hazy, a blur.  
Sollux, sighed as he got himself comfortable, his body aching as he did so. He closed his eyes, trying his best to recount the events that lead to him floating through space, weak and powerless.

He faintly remembered mind honey.

Mind honey; he had consumed mind honey and hurdled himself to Equius' hive, in his attempt to find Aradia. He rendered trees to ash, and destroyed anything in his path.  
He found her— no found them. Aradia, Equius, Nepeta, and Eridan.  
And with his overexerted powers, Eridan was more fearful of him than the day they saw each other in the palace, Eridan would always be scared of him. And a part of him broke by thinking that.

As he tried to get closer to them, he wrecked the area, pieces of metal they had around the lawn went flying, and Sollux vaguely remembered Equius getting cut on his leg, indigo blood spilling everywhere as he cried in pain. Sollux remembered Eridan and Aradia shouting, whether it was at you or each other or both, you couldn't remember. Nepeta jumped onto the biggest machine on the lawn in a hurry and turned its end towards you, the end sucked you in and trapped you inside. The gold bloods psionics no longer endangered the others, its electrifying power trapped with him. Faintly you recall making eye contact with the violet blood, he looked tired and scared and...

And...

He said something to Sollux, but his psionics or the bubble that trapped him didn't let his words be heard. Eridan turned his head towards Nepeta and the others as the gold blood banged on the inner walls of the bubble wishing to be released, crying out to the sea dweller. The last he could remember is Eridan raising his arm, yelling "FIRE!" loud enough that Sollux could even hear him, Nepeta then hit a button and Sollux was shot off.  
The gold blood concluded that he must've past out due to the thrash of the send off. But now he's awake, and he grew angry, yet sad, but overall so so tired.

He couldn't figure if he was mad at Eridan or not, the mutant brains within his skull battling the thought of the violet waves. But overall Sollux was tired, he didn't want to think, and as he floated farther from Alternia, Sollux became hopeless of ever returning. So if he was going to die, then it'll be best if he died while unconscious.  
Sollux closed his eyes and drifted off, memories of his childhood clouding his dreams, capes and magic sprinkled in to make his memories have a melancholic feel.

Sollux couldn't process of a mysterious vestal beaming him aboard a ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all probably thought you'd have to wait again for another chapter we'll bitch guess again


	7. Regrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Feferi sighed, scratching the back of her head, “I’ve decided.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look who’s back from the dead yeehaw

"What did you just do?" Karkat asked as he took more steps forward towards the violet blood. The group that emerged from the now destroyed forested were confused and angry, wanting answers immediately. From the back of the group Feferi had pushed her way forwards, staring down at the other sea dweller for a split second, not saying a word, her mouth agape in shock. Feferi’s eyes trail off of the other sea dweller as she took in the carnage at what had just happened.  
The area was a mess, scraps of metal had pierced the ground below them in the area. Hunks if heavier objects and machinery were toppled over, and smaller objects that couldn’t do much damage had been scattered about. Feferi made eye contact Equius, who had sat back onto the ground as his moirail tried to stop the bleeding from the gash he had in his leg. She trailed her eyes over to Aradia who standing a bit behind Eridan and then her eyes were brought back to Eridan whom looked terrified.

Feferi was shocked. The entire time she stood staring she couldn’t say anything, but as she finally took in the tragic scenery around her, then only could she begin to speak. “Wh- h- I- wh-wha-WHAT HAPPENED HERE?” She asked, albeit to harshly for herself, but how could she not? She cared for every troll, even if she hated a certain troll she didn’t wish for them to die. Perhaps it was the worry that made her sound so harsh, her need to help and coddle wanted her to find whatever happened and find a solution as quickly as possible to help. Help...

She froze.

Feferi looked around once again, she felt her hands shake slightly as she looked for the troll she and others had originally went to look for. But he was nowhere to be found.

 _Feferi got up from her throne as soon as she saw the message that read “TA’s computer exploded!” She feared that she had gotten him angry, and wanted nothing more than to calm him from his rage, but she couldn’t, as it wasn’t her right. She may be empress but she wasn’t in Sollux’s quadrants anymore._  
“Hey what happened?” Vriska looked over at from the bottom of steps from her elevated throne, worry in the cerulean bloods eyes.  
“It’s - uh - Shoallux, I kinda got into an argument with him and trollian just stated that his computer just exploded. And I’m worried that I may have angered him to the point where he could harm himself...” Feferi kept looking from her matesprit to her communion device in her hand. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, Sollux had another source of communication to tell her he’s alright.

_But Feferi knew it was her positivity speaking, and sometimes she absolutely hated that positivity. It’s ironic, since her positivity has brought some misfortunes. Her past quadrants, for one. Or how she didn’t want to execute the Condesce after Feferi had beaten her in the fight and took over the throne, but her plans had failed and the Condesce was unstable wanting nothing else be Feferi’s blood split on the ground, so in the end Feferi had no choice but to kill her._

_Feferi put her device away in the sylladex, no use on wondering if he was going to message her back, and used her arms to hold herself._  
Vriska replied back as soon as she was done speaking, but with thoughts shooting rapidly in Feferi’s mind it felt like hours until Vriska truly spoke.  
“It’s alright, I know you still care about that yellow dimwited bee-boy, maybe you should message Aradia, perhaps she could do something about the princess of piss throwing a tantrum.” Feferi looked down at the floor, staring down the fuchsia carpet with gold accents. She smiled slightly to Vriska’s idea, knowing that the cerulean didn’t use her worse insults on Sollux. Feferi sighed.  
“Ocray, you’re right, I’ll message her but I’m still gonna go see Shoallux in person. I want to apologize to him for making him upset. Also to maybe get him a new husktop.” Vriska chuckled at her response, and Feferi heard the sound fabric and footsteps as Vriska made her way up towards the sea dweller. Before Feferi knew it, she was embraced by her matesprit, letting the fuchsia blood take in Vriskas scent of aromatic amber. Feferi returned the hug, and Vriska spoke as she began to stand on the tips of her toes and reach Feferi’s fins. “I’ll go with you, it’s boring around here without you.”

_After shooting a quick message to Aradia and getting everything they needed, Feferi and Vriska had left in a smaller vessel and made their way towards the city Sollux resided in. When they made it into the city they passed the tall communal hive Sollux lived in, they looked through the window of the ship as they observed the city below them and they’re pilot tried to fine an area they could land in. (But given Feferi’s status they could’ve landed anywhere.) Then suddenly, the vessel shook and everything went unsteady. The psion in charge of the ship tried his best to get the situation under control as quickly as he could. When Feferi had asked what happened the ship shook again. The pilot was shaking as he pointed a finger towards the window of the ship. Feferi’s eyes widened at what she saw. In the air, buzzing around from the electrical power was Sollux, who looked in absolute pain as hovered in the air. His hive had a massive hole in it, presumably made by Sollux himself. Sollux stayed in place for awhile, hands on his head as cried, Feferi cried out his name, along with Vriska but to no avail. All alterian ships are made sound proof, so they had to watch as the gold blood blasted off in a certain direction. The pilot in panic managed to land the ship on top of a building, letting Feferi and Vriska run out as Sollux’s silhouette disappeared in the distance._

_Feferi watched as Vriska contacted her moirail, in hopes to getting a ride to go after Sollux. The ship was damaged and there was nothing the pilot and the psionic could do.  
After waiting a top a random buildings roof Feferi watched as a dragon appeared in the sky, Vriska waved her arms around, trying to get the dragons attention. The massive lusus tried to land on the same building as them but couldn’t, as it body had sketch across five other buildings. Terezi slid off her lusus and walked over to moirail to get more information. Karkat, Gamzee, Tavros, And Kanaya appeared behind Terezi, all looking worried. After Vriska explained the situation and Feferi told the pilot and psionic to contact a repair unit for the ship, Feferi and her friends all climbed on the massive dragon lusus and flew away to find their gold blooded friend. It wasn’t hard to find a trail of his, as debris was littered the area he was in. They made it to a forest that was burned and taken apart and as they were landing a loud popping was heard and from the forest they saw something blast off into the night sky._

“SOLLUX? Where’s Sollux?” Feferi yelled in panic, she wasn’t aware on how her outburst had caused Eridan to flinch. Aradia stepped forward, hands in her wild hair as she used her fingers to brush it out. The rust blood opened her mouth then closed it and cautiously looked over to Eridan who now kept his head down.

“Sollux is-“ Aradia began, “Not here...” Aradia kept playing with her hair as she looked away from her friends. “Uh, he WAS here, but we had to send to him off...”

“What?”

“We sent him off.” Aradia repeated.

“Where?” Feferi asked, concerned for her former quadrant mate.

“...Space.” It wasn’t Aradia that had spoken, the voice was deeper and belonged to someone she had spoken to in sweeps. Feferi looked over at the violet blood, who still couldn’t meet her gaze, and began to mess with the hem of his shirt.  
Feferi’s voice was soft and shook a little as she spoke, “What?”

“Space. He’s in space.” Eridan repeated.

“SPACE?!” Feferi screamed, managing to have Eridan finally look back at her. He was shaking slightly but she didn’t care. What had he done to Sollux?

“Why the hell is Sollux in space?!” Vriska stepped foward, looking Eridan dead in the eye with a scowl. The cerulean blood walked towards Feferi and squeezed her matesprit’s hand to soothe her anger.

“I-I wwell...I really don’t know” Eridan squeaked, taking a few steps back away from Feferi and Vriska, cowering in their presence.  
“Wait, what do you mean by you don’t know? You were the one that sent him into space did you not?” Questioned Kanaya bitterly, her voice leaked poison and her icy stare shot daggers into Eridan with jade eyes. Of course they would be suspicious, Eridan was known to have a bad relationship with the gold blood in the past - always dueling, Eridan’s jealously of Sollux close relationship with Feferi, and failed black advances on Eridan’s end made him look the most guilty of the crime. The odds were not Eridan’s favor, and if it weren’t for the fact Aradia was standing right to him, Terezi would’ve just “persecuted” him with her white dragon cane right then and there.

“Ok- well I lied I do know but it’s not for any reas-“

“Aha! So you admit ithat you do know? Why lie Ampora? You’re making yourself look even more guilty than you already are. You where the one who shot Sollux into space!” Terezi interrogated, lifting one of her arms dramatically and pointing her hand in the direction she heard Eridan’s voice.

“No he wasn’t!” Yelled Nepeta from Equius’ side, staring everyone down with glossy eyes. She had one arm around Equius helping him sit up, and had her other arm locked around Equius’ left arm. Equius’ leg had bled through the piece of Aradia’s skirt she’d previously wrapped around the wound, but Nepeta had taken off her trench coat and wrapped it around his wound, the olive hue was beginning to darken in color as Equius’ indigo blood seeped into the fabric. The indigo blood looked exhausted, hands applying pressure to the gash in his leg, grunting once in a while from the pain. He looked up to everyone, sweat rolling down his forehead. “Nepeta is right, Eridan wasn’t the one who sent Sollux away, it was all of us.” Equius testifed to the others, hands still on the gash.

“But why?” Stressed Feferi, her free hand in her hair, looking like as if she was just stabbed in the back by her friends; tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes, earning her a pitiful look from Vriska.

Aradia lifted her arms, making motions to bring attention to the deviated area, “Can you not SEE?!” She seethed, her usually vigorous and laid back attitude melting away altogether and showing a face of strain, she continued. “If you have to blame anyone blame me! He was _my_ moirail! And I... I couldn’t do anything! The voices of the dead cautioned me, screaming that if I got to close to Sollux that it could lead to the death of me! I’ve failed as a moirail...” Aradia’s face formed into an ireful expression, whether it was towards the others or Aradia herself for failing, Feferi didn’t know.  
Feferi’s eyes fell to the ground after witnessing pale-maroon tears roll down Aradia’s exasperated face. Feferi intertwined her fingers with Vriska’s and gave a good squeeze, earning herself a concerned look from the cerulean blood.  
Perhaps... Perhaps the others were right - sending Sollux away was something they all decided on. Taking her frustrations out on one person alone wasn’t good leadership, if she truely wanted to be a true leader capable of making change in a heinous society that is the Alterian Empire then she’ll have to push aside unnecessary feelings and find a solution in the middle.  
Feferi gazed back up, and looked around once again - trees to ash, debris everywhere. Feferi watched as Tavros and Gamzee rushed over to Equius and Nepeta, helping the smaller olive blood help the indigo blood onto his feet. A worried Maryam soon followed suit, running to the four as well, most likely wanting to check on the wound on Equius’ leg. Both Terezi and Karkat had walked over to Aradia’s side both trying their best to calm her down from crying.  
Vriska whispered something into Feferi’s ear, but Feferi couldn’t process it and let Vriska let go of her hand and walked towards Aradia, Terezi, and Karkat to help pacify Aradia down. Which was surprising to Feferi, she loved her but she knew Vriska wasn’t the kindest and not the best person at consoling others. It was a pleasant surprise to se that Vriska was at least trying.

 _Trying_.

Feferi turned her head slightly towards Eridan who was staring up into the starry night sky, face forlorned and filled with regret, he held himself closely, ignoring the others around him.  
Perhaps he was trying as well - just like Sollux said.

Feferi sighed, scratching the back of her head, “I’ve decided.”  
Everyone stopped what they were previously doing and stared in Feferi’s direction - even Eridan stopped gazing at the sky to look over at her.  
“It’s no ones fault that Sollux is in space. You four all panicked and came up with with a plan as quickly as you guys could. I’m sure anyone would’ve done what you’ve done if this happened to anybody else. It was a flawed plan - but a rushed plan made in a state of panic. Now let’s get Equius to a hospital to get his wound treated. And... I’ll get some ships to try to scout Sollux out- though there’s a possibility that he’s dead-“

“No, he should be alive.”

Now it was Eridan’s turn to have all eyes on him.

“He was encased in an electromagnetic bubble that entrapped electricity - and Sollux’s psionic power were, hopefully, strong enough to harden the bubble enough to keep the oxygen within it as well. He should be alive. But… The oxygen within could dwindle so we don’t have much time.” Eridan explained, everyone besides Equius looked baffled by the information he gave them but they all agreed nonetheless.

Terezi raises her hand and pointed to the sky, “Ok, but, isn’t space massive? How would we fine Sollux? I don’t think it’ll be that easy.”  
Eridan brought a finger up to his lips, thinking about Terezi’s statement. Terezi was right, Space was massive and mysterious, troll society has only skinned the surface of the cosmic ocean, even though trolls have conquered a part of the galaxy. But a galaxy was smaller than a universe, and trolls conquering a part of it wasn’t in the name of science or discovery - it was just for the sake of conquest.

After a quick review of the situation, Eridan looked over to the very machine used to send Sollux off. It would be tricky but Eridan had a plan.  
“Ok, I have an idea. Yes, Space is very large, mysterious, whatever word you want to describe it as. But Sollux is trapped in a bubble meant for reaching signals across the galaxy, although it is a prototype, however it has yet to release its electromagnetic waves; and let’s not hope it doesn’t. But I think I can build a device that can track the waves even when it’s still trapped in the bubble, we can also use the coordination we used to send Sollux off as route he most likely went through. He’ll most likely just keep going the way he was sent but if there’s any celestial objects nearby he could be pulled to them via gravity.”

“How long will it take for you to build this device?” Asked Feferi, this was the best news she heard all day.

“Two, maybe three days tops - if I worked alone that is. But I think I someone that can help me build the device rather quickly.” Eridan began to walk over to the transmitter, picking up scattered blue prints along the way, “Working with her, the device could be done in the matter of hours, or a day being the max time.” The male sea dweller capchalogged the blueprints into his sylladex before turning back to the others.

“Okay.” Feferi breathed, “Then it’s decided. Everyone let’s get going, Equius still needs to be treated for his injuries.” Everyone nodded their at their Empress’ instructions. Karkat and Terezi were the first to head out of the forest, walking through the new path made in the destruction to said latter’s lusus. Vriska had managed to bring Aradia along with her and as they passed Feferi she flashed a a quick smile to her, hoping that would let her know that she wasn’t mad anymore.  
Gamzee was instructed by Kanaya to carefully lift Equius and carry him back to Terezi’s lusus, the remaining bunch watching as Gamzee lifted Equius bridal style. Equius grew a shade of blue at the act, the indigo blood couldn’t even make eye contact with the massive purple blood.  
Soon enough, Gamzee, with Equius in his arms, we’re heading out of the forest with Nepeta and Kanaya walking closely behind while Tavros flew besides Gamzee with his mutated fairy wings.  
Feferi turned back to Eridan who stood in place, eyes forwards where the others had headed to not even realizing that Feferi was still there with him.

“You too, Eridan.” There was no hostility in Feferi’s voice, which came to a shock for Eridan who only gawked back to his former palemate. He watched as Feferi turned back around, her long hair flowing along her as she did, and began to walk through the carnage that Sollux made. It took a while for Eridan to process what Feferi just said but when he realized what exactly she said began to sprint to catch up with her and the others.

They had all climed a top Terezi’s lusus and lifted off the ground to fine the nearest medical clinic. Feferi let the wind flow through her massive hair, eyes closed as she let her long hair fly behind her. She was seated in the back, her said long hair would be a bother for everyone if she was seated in the front. But she didn’t mind, it gave her a chance to observe everyone from a far. After the whole incident that left everyone shaken up, everyone had seemed to have calmed down from the events. Fuchsia eyes fell upon lightning bolt shaped horns, the owner of said horns was once again staring back up into the night sky. After all these sweeps of not wanting to see her former moirail here he was - all grown up. But maybe they’ve both grown up. Feferi continued to stare at the other distracted sea dweller and smiled tenderly at him even though he he couldn’t see her smiling at him.

This was nice.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus text that I left out:  
> “Can you not SEE!”  
> “No, I can not see, Aradia.” Terezi said.

**Author's Note:**

> I did this out of sheer boredom which is why it's so short, and because I wanted to try out the homestuck skin and HTML settings for pesterlogs, whether or not I decide to continue this fic depends.  
> And if it does prepare to see a lot of OCs..


End file.
